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Enter IPL’s 2013 Cool Congregations Challenge.  $1000 Grand Prize.

$500 for first place and $250 for second place will be awarded for each of the  following categories:

• Cool Congregations Planner
• Energy Saver
• Renewable Role Model
• Sacred Grounds Steward
• Community Inspiration

Dozens of honorable mention certificates will be awarded and all entrants receive a 20% discount coupon to Shop IPL.

Projects completed in the last year from October 18, 2012 through December 31, 2013 qualify.

Download the free 12-page Entry Guide for how to enter, plus inspirational stories, flyers, tips and discounts for ShopIPL.  Deadline for entries is January 31, 2014.

The president’s newly announced climate action plan calls for more funding for clean energy and limiting carbon emissions for new and existing power plants.

This is good news for us here in North Carolina.

According to the Center for American Progress, 61% of NC residents breathe dangerous levels of smog.  And in 2012, North Carolina experienced many extremes, including 40 broken heat records and 13 broken precipitation records, as shown in the Extreme Weather Map 2012 published by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Changing to renewables can help.

Stephanie Carroll Carson, Public News Service for NC, quotes Eric Henry, president of T-S Designs in her recent blog:  “When you look at the direct cost of coal, it is cheaper than renewable,” he said, “but when you measure all the costs, we’re really cheating not only the system but we’re cheating future generations.”  T-S Designs has been powered by solar for the past 10 years.

Stephanie goes on to point out that “North Carolina has been a national leader in clean-energy job creation, second only to California. The clean-energy business has created more than 21,000 jobs and contributed $1.7 billion to the state’s economy, according to RTI International.”  Renewable energy projects have contributed $113 million as tax revenue, helping to fund public services like education and safety, and energy efficiency programs incentivized by renewable energy standards have saved government an estimated $427 million.

President Obama’s Climate Action Plan can benefit North Carolina, hopefully for years to come.  It just makes sense, for ourselves and for future generations.

The following is NCIPL Steering Committee Secretary Penny Hooper’s Letter to the Editor in response to President Obama’s climate change speech:

President Obama’s speech at Georgetown University today was welcome news to those of us concerned about the future of our nation and world.

We need to support the President’s efforts to pass standards to address carbon pollution from new and existing power plants. We also need to continue the efforts to foster a new economy based on renewable energy and sustainable lifestyles. Why?

Because climate change is a moral issue. How can we care for our neighbor and destroy our neighbor’s air and water? A recent World Bank report showed that increased droughts, floods, heat waves and more severe storms due to global warming will hurt those among us who are poorest and least able to adapt to the changing climate.

We can no longer in good conscience remain silent. As people of faith, we need to speak up. We have the technology to produce our energy without producing so much pollution and that is the right thing to do.

Sincerely,
Penny Hooper
Smyrna, NC
28579

Participating in Moral Mondays impressed me with a sense of fraternity and hope in the face of policies and legislation that seem increasingly unjust and discriminatory, besides being detrimental to social mobility and environmental stewardship. June 18^th found a moral Monday focused on environmental justice, climate justice, and healthcare.

Protestors throughout the event displayed signs rejecting fracking, promoting alternative energy production systems, and exposing failures of the healthcare system. Petitions and listserv signups circulated through the crowd as activists from all over the state met one another and rallied together. With the well-organized series of speakers on stage and the various pieces of literature being passed around, the spirit of the event was clearly outraged. The positivity of solutions offered and the support and pride the crowd devoted to those individuals willing to enter the legislative building in protest and risk arrest gave the event a quality of hope and joy.

The NAACP, Reverend Barber himself, and the committed participants of Moral Mondays show a deeply troubled and willingly active population of North Carolinians that do not agree with the actions of our new state legislature. It should be noted, as it was by many speakers and participants at the rally, that this population is not a fringe group, not a group of outsiders. In fact, protesters adamantly displayed their home counties and the family lineage they can trace within the state. With many of the participants counting their age well over 40, it made their claims of multi-generational North Carolina heritage all the more poignant.

Though Moral Mondays will be ending its presence in Raleigh soon, I encourage all those who feel strongly about our state’s political atmosphere to get involved with local protests and petitions elsewhere. The movement hopes to branch out into individual communities from a platform of respectful dissent and support for positive change. Perhaps participating in these events can inspire hope in your hometown in the same way they did in Raleigh this past month.

Joey Shea
Intern
North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light